


How to Turn a Bad Day Good

by DifferenceEngineGirl



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Michael Fell Too, F/M, Fluff, GNU Terry Pratchett, Gen, Hair Braiding, Merry Michaelmas 2020, Queerplatonic Relationships, Wing Grooming, good omens - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:00:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26717152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DifferenceEngineGirl/pseuds/DifferenceEngineGirl
Summary: When her squish starts acting really grumpily, Ella gets the reason out of his twin and sets about turning a long-hated day into an enjoyable one.
Relationships: Ella Lopez & Michael, Ella Lopez + Michael
Comments: 4
Kudos: 27





	How to Turn a Bad Day Good

**Author's Note:**

> Background: In this universe, Michael Fell soon after Lucifer and the pair of them became Kings of Hell and known as the Devils. He took the name Marius when Lucifer chose Lucifer, and moved to LA with Lucifer in 2011. He works as head of security for Lux, and is in a queerplatonic relationship with Ella. He speaks with a semi-archaic dialect, using thee/thou/thy and the appropriate conjugations because he doesn’t share Lucifer’s gift of spoken language and learnt Old/Middle English first so still marks the distinction between singular and plural “you”.

Marius had hated September 29th since the fifth century. He'd mostly managed to avoid being on Earth for it in the past, but the few occasions when he'd found himself around humans for it he'd been surrounded by reminders of the moment he most regretted, and people praising the perfect caricature of his deadname created by his siblings. If it was just a celebration of Gabriel and Raphael, he would probably join the humans in their feasting - they were two of the very few angels he could truly say he missed - but they insisted on putting their vision of him, the perfectly obedient Archangel who cast down the Serpent and was awaiting the End Times to rise up and fight him again, front and centre and taunting him with the name he'd abandoned millennia ago.

Ella noticed his growing bad mood as the day approached, although he refused to tell her why. Eventually she cornered Lucifer at the precinct a week before the 29th and got the reason out of him. With her new knowledge, she made it her mission to give her squish the best day ever on the 29th, to try and drown out his discomfort and replace the bad memories with some good ones. In order to do so, she made a list of his favourite things and planned a day around them, not hesitating to use some of her leave before she asked him to join her, without telling him more than that she had a day off and wanted to spend it with him.

When the morning of the 29th came, she collected him from the penthouse with coffee and pastries, and began her master plan.

1) Literature

For the first part of their day, Ella took Marius to The Last Bookstore, an enormous bookstore in downtown LA, and happily followed him around as he enthused about various books and authors, even finding a few rare books he was desperate to add to his collection. He knew with his money and his twin's charm he could find and acquire a copy at any time with some research, but coming across them naturally always felt better somehow.

They emerged several hours later, both with purchases to peruse later, and Ella steered them towards their next destination.

2) Tea

Their next stop was the Chado Tea shop, a utopia of 300 different varieties of tea, and Marius insisted on selecting a blend for her as well as restocking his own favourite blend. This part took less time than the first, as he knew exactly what he wanted, but that just made more time for the following section of Ella's master plan, which would be at least six hours long.

He bought her a blend with chocolate in it, and something relaxing and herbal for himself, and she couldn't wait to try it when they got back to her apartment for the next part of their day.

3) Snuggles (and a Marathon)

Back at Ella's apartment, she dug out all her softest blankets and pillows for a proper binge watch, and together they constructed a half-nest, half-fort on her couch and the floor in front of it. Before she loaded up Prime, they set their teas to brew and made themselves comfortable. Ella had heard Marius enthuse about the representation of angels and demons in Sir Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's Good Omens book, so when she saw that there was a series made based on it, she knew they had to watch together. She curled up into his side as the show began to play, cozy and comfortable and eagerly awaiting Marius' commentary.

After the opening, Marius paused the show to tell Ella a fascinating story of how he and Lucifer had basically created the universe together, following plans from their Father, and how Lucifer delighted in shaping Marius' Firmament into bright burning stars and arranging them across the cosmos, where he preferred the creatures they'd created, and the pocket reality that was theirs alone.

The next time Marius paused it to talk was when the angels - other than Aziraphale - first appeared.

"So, how accurate did they get the angels, Mars? Except Michael of course, ‘cause I know any human perceptions of Michael are fake."

"Gabriel is a lot more entertaining than that one, and much more fond of 'gross matter', more specifically alcohol and anything sweet, and quite a bit shorter. He is a decent guy, but I advise thee never to play cards or dice or gamble with him. He is not very good at it and never payeth his debts. He still oweth me 100 denarii from when Luce and I bumped into him in Judea when we went to see what all the fuss was about with Yeshua. I think he oweth Luce more than he oweth me, because I seem to remember him saying something about lending him money on one of the occasions we made almost entirely separate trips.

"Sandalphon is a little nicer in this. He is a very creepy angel. He is quite a bit taller and skinnier than in this, and he is ginger. I do not know if he was involved in Sodom and Gomorrah, but I would not put it past him.

"Uriel was quiet, and had the gift of Patterns so nothing ever surprised him. He was always playing pranks on us as kids and trying to get to play with us. We did not really let him, because he was a bit of a buzzkill. He, er, he died last year, but I do not want to talk about that."

"That's ok, I won't press. They didn't get much right, did they?"

"Nope, but it is still fun!"

There were no further pauses, just some whispers about the accuracy or inaccuracy of Crowley and Aziraphale's adventures through history in episode 3, although Ella was a little disappointed when Mars quashed her small hope that unicorns were once real and just perished in the flood, that was apparently a real occurrence thanks to Mars and Lucifer's Mum. Mars' couldn’t help but laugh in episode 6 at their depiction of Satan, as it was obviously supposed to be Lucifer rather than him and Luce _hated_ the horns and giant monster thing he blames Dante for.

The climax of the final episode was completely new material to Marius, and he was delighted by the swap and how each of them acted as the other, flopping back into the pillows of the nest-fort with a satisfied smile on his face.

"Enjoyed it?"

"It was wonderful! I do hope Sir Terry was able to see it in the Silver City, and it was to his liking as well."

"Me too. I think they did a really good job with it."

4) Good Food

As the final credits rolled, Ella turned to Mars.

"So, what do you fancy for dinner? My treat." she asked.

"There is a really good Ethiopian place that will deliver for us?"

"Sounds good!"

They took their time perusing the menu and ordering, and when the food arrived they shared and swapped dishes to decide what they liked best. Marius gravitated to the hotter dishes, while Ella preferred those that were more mild, but both enjoyed it immensely and agreed that it was a place to eat from again, and it was fun to eat with their hands.

Once Ella had managed to make herself leave the comfort of the nest-fort for long enough to put the leftovers in the fridge and thoroughly wash her hands, it was time for the last part of her plan.

5) Wing Grooming

"Right, pop 'em and spread 'em, birdboy."

"Pardon?"

"You've been tense and grumpy for at least a week, so I know your feathers must be all ruffled, and I want to help fix them so you can be more comfortable."

"Alright, but thou must let me do the same to thee."

"Hate to break it to you, bud, but I don't have wings. You're just gonna have to let it be a gift."

"Let me braid thy hair then. Grooming should be reciprocal, and I believe that would be an appropriate substitute."

"Awww, that would be lovely, Mars, but wings first. Spread 'em."

Marius rolled his eyes at her with a soft smile as he flexed his shoulders and brought his wings out. The black feathers were as ruffled as Ella expected, but still beautiful as he carefully stretched them before pulling them close to his body to turn and sit on the floor in front of her. She ran her hand along the top of his right wing before she began and a pleasant shiver ran down his spine. He spread it out obligingly under her hand, and she began to carefully card her fingers through his feathers, zipping the barbs back together and straightening them out as Mars grew more and more boneless under her hands.

By the time she'd finished both wings, Mars was lying face down on the floor, completely relaxed from her ministrations.

"Give me a minute, then I will braid thy hair. Just got to convince my muscles to work again."

Ella giggled at his sleepy words as he tipped his head to one side to look at her.

"Thou art so very good at grooming my wings. Te quiero, Ella."

"Aww, thanks! Yo también te quiero, Mars."

After a few more minutes of bonelessness, Marius got up and washed his hands before he swapped places with Ella. He settled cross-legged behind her and began to brush her hair with the brush he'd grabbed when he went to wash his hands. Once all the tangles were gone, he divided her hair and began to braid, making multiple braids and wrapping them around each other to make a bun at the base of her skull.

"Where did you learn to do this, Mars? You're very good, and it feels so nice."

"Raphael taught me. I broke my wing when I was small, and she taught me how to braid her hair while I healed. I do not miss many of my siblings, but I miss her."

"Is there no way of seeing her again?"

"Not really. She rarely visiteth Earth, and I do not wish for anyone else to Fall on mine or Luce's account."

"Oh man, that sucks! Hopefully you'll get to see her again without her getting in trouble someday."

"I hope so."

They lapsed into a comfortable silence while he put the finishing touches on her hair, before returning to their previous position, snuggled together in the nest-fort.

"What was today about, Ella? Everything thou tooketh me to was geared towards my interests, not your own."

"I asked Lucifer about why you were getting grumpy recently, and he told me about Michaelmas and how you really don't like it, so I thought I'd give you a day all about you, the real you, not the lies that have been spread. Did- did you like it?"

"It was wonderful, Ella. Nobody hath ever done anything like that for me before."

"Well you deserve it, Mars. You're better than anything they could make up," she replied, a determined look on her face. Marius couldn't find the words to reply, so just wrapped his arms around her and squeezed.

After a while spent quietly cuddling, Ella spoke up.

"Do you want to stay here tonight?"

"I would love to. Little spoon?"

"Of course you can be the little spoon."

"Thank you."

A few hours later, when they finally retired for the night, Marius felt more loved than he had in years with Ella pressed against his back and her arms around him as he drifted off to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback always welcome! The main fic in this 'verse is currently being written, but I can't say when it's likely to be finished and posted.


End file.
